Vin Diesel Receives Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star

Vin Diesel was met with a lot of support at the unveiling of his Hollywood Walk of Fame star this week. It was a “Fast & Furious” reunion as Diesel stood with co-stars Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez to lend their support.

“I never thought it would be here in public on a corner, but I guess in some strange way, 30 years ago I made my living by dancing on corners like this with crowds smaller than this,” the actor said at the ceremony in front of the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel on Hollywood Boulevard.

“I love Vin Diesel. On top of just being one of my best friends… this man dares to dream when people forget to dream. This guy, he looks at the impossible and says, ‘When do we start?’,” Rodriguez told the crowd.

The actor said his mixed ethnicity could have prevented him from making it big in Hollywood, but he didn’t let it. His mother is Caucasian, he was raised by an African-American stepfather, and he has identified himself as a person of color.

He explained: “I guess I’ve always looked past the exterior and the ambiguity that my existence represents. When I was in my mother’s stomach, it was still illegal in parts of America for people of color and white people to procreate.

“Everyone had known me just as a bouncer in New York because I wasn’t able to get any work. There was something too ambiguous about the way I look that would prevent me from ever getting a star.”

A New York native, Diesel, 46, made his film debut in the 1990 drama “Awakenings.”

Five years later, his independent short “Mult-Facial” drew the attention of “Saving Private Ryan” helmsman Steven Spielberg, who created the role of Pvt. Adian Carparzo, a rifleman, in the Oscar-winning drama for the actor.